Inside David Cameron's real life The Thick Of It team

With accusations of drift and repeated demands that the Prime Minister or his
aides somehow “get a grip” after a rolling series of setbacks, David
Cameron’s Number 10 is coming under increasing scrutiny.

David Cameron’s Number 10 is coming under increasing scrutinyPhoto: PAUL GROVER

Some Tory MPs are so unnerved by recent developments that they ask if there is a basic design flaw in the way in which the Prime Minister’s operation is set up. Who is he listening to and is his approach conducive to good government?

It is clear that Mr Cameron takes seriously the advice of only a handful of elected politicians. George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has been ceded more power than even Gordon Brown was under Tony Blair.

Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne are close friends and the Chancellor continues to combine his job at the Treasury with being the government’s strategist-in-chief.

Regular counsel is also taken from William Hague, making him at 51 the elder statesman. Oliver Letwin, an early supporter of Mr Cameron when he was seeking the leadership, is regarded by insiders as the intellectual sage. Opinions are sharply divided on his effectiveness.

After the coalition came to office, Mr Letwin was given the NHS reforms to inspect to ensure that they were “bomb-proofed” before launch. A large explosion followed.

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But beyond these cabinet ministers are a coterie of friends, little-known advisers and staffers who have considerable power working alongside the Prime Minister in Number 10. At the centre sits a group who are trusted above all others by the Tory leader, forming the inner-inner circle.

Those who are in other senior positions, but who are not members of the ultimate club, are thus often working at a disadvantage compared to their best connected colleagues. Says a senior Tory: “What unites that group is their unwavering conviction that Dave is great.”

The key figures in this regard are Ed Llewellyn, the chief of staff, and Kate Fall, one of two deputy chiefs of staff. Mr Llewellyn and Miss Fall are both are very close friends of the Prime Minister.

Miss Fall, “the gatekeeper” who controls access to the Prime Minister, met Mr Cameron at Oxford. Mr Llewellyn is two years older than Mr Cameron, so was ahead of his future boss at Eton and then Oxford, but they bonded when working in the Conservative party Research Department in the early 1990s.

Mr Llewellyn then went off to work for Lord Patten, who was the last governor of Hong Kong during the handover to China. Mr Llewellyn subsequently worked for Lord Ashdown, when the former Lib Dem leader was High Commissioner to Bosnia.

Mr Llewellyn’s links to the Lib Dems notably came in useful when the prospect of a coalition loomed because of Mr Cameron’s failure to win an overall majority at the 2010 general election.

Likeable and ameliorative, with the smooth disposition of a mandarin, the chief of staff has an unswerving loyalty to Mr Cameron, says a friend.

“David will never be parted from Ed. And Ed spends half his time talking to MPs, soothing ministers who are unhappy and defusing potential rows.”

By this sympathetic interpretation, the recent extraordinary run of negative publicity Number 10 has attracted could have been even worse without the efforts of Mr Llewellyn.

Others are much less forgiving. Says a minister: “Very nice, but they are his chums. Neither Ed nor Kate Fall are the types to really stick it to the Prime Minister if he’s about to make a mistake. They wouldn’t say, right you, don’t be daft, don’t do that, which is what Alastair Campbell used to do for Blair.”

Indeed, the pivotal figure in Mr Cameron’s media operation is also very unlike the combative Mr Campbell. Gabby Bertin is the media aide Mr Cameron trusts most. He and his Press Secretary worked together in opposition and he come to trust her judgement because of her calmness under fire.

Miss Bertin, soon to go off on maternity leave, is very much in the innermost circle, whereas the figure who notionally outranks her, communications chief Craig Oliver, is way down the pecking order.

Alongside these three, one former Number 10 staffer observes that the Prime Minister’s wife should not be overlooked. “Don’t forget Sam has real influence,” says a former Number 10 staffer. “She isn’t very political and sees things like a more normal person. A word from her that something doesn’t sound right when they are watching TV in the flat upstairs can tip the balance in his mind.”

The other central person with the ability to out-play even his fellow members of the inner-inner circle, is the wily Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood. The current absence of a strong rival amongst the ranks of the advisers means that the top civil servant has considerably more power over the Prime Minister and ministers than might normally be the case.

One of Sir Jeremy’s most notable victories was the part he played in helping to see off Steve Hilton, the Prime Minister’s friend and bicycling policy guru who liked to pad around Number 10 in socks, shorts and a t-shirt, blaming civil service intransigence for government setbacks.

Disillusioned, he left in the spring for California, although there are suggestions that he will soon be spending much more time helping the Prime Minister again, a concept unlikely to please Sir Jeremy.

However, although Sir Jeremy is currently preeminent, there are others - in the ranks of the outer-inner circle - who also have clout.

Andrew Cooper, head of strategy, who conducts polling, is listened to closely by Mr Cameron and a bad poll can contribute to the decision to perform one of the government’s frequent U-turns. Cabinet ministers now complain that any meetings of the Tory members seem to involve far too much time listening to polling presentations.

“There’s usually five minutes left at the end for ideas about the future of the country,” jokes one.

Stephen Gilbert, the Prime Minister’s political secretary, is also keen on polling and in collaboration with Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne is the architect of the plan they hope will get them sufficient marginal seats to win a majority next time.

Oliver Dowden, a long-term Tory staffer, has now been given the role of deputy chief of staff alongside Miss Fall. Eyebrows were raised when he recently gave an interview to an American TV station, in which he said that most of his time was spent on “crisis management”.

Listening to the radio was the way he found out each morning what the Government was up to: “I am surprised on a day-to-day basis.”

But Dowden is otherwise seen as good news for the Tories. The hope of ministers is that he can bring sharper focus to Number 10’s handling of domestic matters, as Mr Llewellyn concentrates more on foreign affairs and defence.

Liz Sugg, head of operations, is another key long-time loyalist since opposition. She oversees the Prime Ministers visits and trips. Patrick Rock, a veteran Tory advisor since the 1970s and old colleague of Cameron’s from the days when they worked as aides to Michael Howard when he was Home Secretary in the mid-1990s, works on policy at the heart of Number 10 and is highly trusted. Alan Sendorek, a young press aide, is also moving into a more powerful position.

However, insiders recognise that Craig Oliver, the head of communications, is now in some serious difficulty.

“Craig should be toast,” says a minister. Hired to replace Andy Coulson, the former editor of the News of the World, Mr Oliver has a BBC TV news background and has never been entirely comfortable handling press relations.

The departure of Mr Coulson also highlighted another major weakness. The members of the Number 10 inner circle, with a few exceptions, are overwhelmingly young and from similar backgrounds. They lack anyone with a natural affinity for the “striving classes” that Mr Cameron now says he is committed to wooing ahead of the next election. “Who in Number 10 really gets Essex man?” asks a leading Tory.

The Number 10 David Cameron has built very much reflects his personality and style. The upside, say supporters, is that he appoints advisors and ministers he trusts and allows them to get on with it.

“Dave wants people he is relaxed with, who he can be his real self around. That’s why he likes people he has known for ages.”

Critics point out that that is a drawback. While a relaxed, convivial atmosphere is all very nice for those involved, running a successful government usually requires a good deal more rigour and discipline.